This hardwood-loving species should probably be expected in oak-hickory and beech-maple forests throughout eastern North America. A similar but more robust species in western North America grows under conifers at high elevation and is currently "passing" as Tricholoma venenatum, though I suspect that research will eventually determine the two mushrooms are genetically distinct. Both mushrooms are recognized by the presence of tan to brown fibers (which radiate from the cap center over a whitish ground color), mealy taste, and microscopic features.

Description:

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with hardwoods in oak-hickory and beech-maple forests; growing scattered or gregariously, sometimes in clusters; eastern and northeastern North America; usually fruiting in summer and fall, but sometimes collected in late spring or early summer.

Cap: 2.5-7 cm; broadly convex, flat, or broadly bell-shaped; dry; white, overlaid with appressed tan to brown fibers and scales which radiate from the center; white on the margin.

Gills: Attached to the stem by a notch; close; white; not discoloring.

The western Tricholoma venenatum, as described by Shanks (1994), has a cap 7.5-13 cm across, a stem up to 10 cm long, and spores 7-11 x 5-7 µ. It is mycorrhizal with conifers at high elevation in the Sierra Nevada, and has been collected under Douglas-fir on Washington's Olympic Peninsula.